MAJOR CHANGE ALERT
This year we are extending our schedule to include a full day of qualifying on Thursday.
This allows us to extend the Classic finals to TOP 40 and the Charity finals to TOP 24.
NWPC will now have 3 potential CERTIFIED+ events (potential 300% total value depending on # of players), part of 5 total IFPA events across the weekend.
We also continue to be part of the Stern Pro Circuit
https://sternpinball.com/stern-pro-circuit/
2026 updated changes:
-Added full day of qualifying on Thursday.
-CLASSIC finals has an expanded finals, TOP 40 players, similar to OPEN event (top 4 with 2 byes and 5-16 with 1 bye).
-Charity tournament now with unlimited players for qualification and a TOP 24 players finals (top 8 with 1 bye).
-Overall schedule of qualifying and finals has changed to aligned with new overall duration and finals format (qualifying ends at 10PM each day), please check https://www.nwpinballchamps.com/schedule-1/
Details:
NW Pinball Championships 2026
August 27th to 30th (Qualifying Thu Noon-10pm, Fri noon-10pm / Sat 10am-10pm, Finals Saturday for Women’s, Classic and first round of Open. Finals Sunday for Open remaining rounds and Charity tournaments.
Registration (limited to 160 players max) will open on 6/13 at Noon Pacific on the website for Pinhead package, 6/20 for general registration.
https://buytickets.at/seattlepinballservices/2259072
100% of the tournament tickets/cards money is paid back to the players as prizes, topped with generous contributions from our sponsors. Over $32,000 was paid out in prize last year (including trophies)!
We are continuing to receive great feedback about our new venue of the past 4 events and we are happy to announce we will be returning to the Lynnwood Bowl & Skate for 2026!
More at http://www.nwpinballchamps.com/
We take great pride in having an extremely dialed and enjoyable lineup and overall providing a world-class tournament experience.
The OPEN division qualifying will continue with the “card of 5 games” format this year, the top TOP 2 cards will now count toward your ranking. The bank will be 10+ games.
The CLASSIC tournament qualifier will continue with the “card of 4 games” format this year, the top TOP 2 cards will now count toward your ranking. The bank will be 8 games.
The WOMEN’s tournament qualifier will use the same format as the CLASSIC division, with a “card of 4 games” out of a bank of 6, TOP 2 cards will count.
The CHARITY division will use the same format as the OPEN division, with a “card of 5 games” out of a bank of 6, TOP 2 cards count.
The SUNDAY REVENGE tournament will be a 4 player group Knockout tournament on the Classic bank.
We will be streaming the finals on Saturday and Sunday all day. We will also stream the qualifying on Friday and Saturday (depending on availability). All this thanks for our partnership with GeekGamer.TV
The Northwest Pinball Championships is open to players of all skill levels and ages. It is a multi-day qualifying tournament followed by a day of finals. During qualifying on Thursday, Friday and Saturday players purchase cards for OPEN/CHARITY (5 games per card), CLASSICS/WOMEN (4 games per card) to play on the tournament machines. Players may purchase as many cards as they like but there will be lots of opportunities for free tickets (Volunteering, pre-tournaments…).
A $50 registration fee is required to play in any of the tournaments (also required to use free entries).
Pinhead package will be priority registration for $125 including registration, 1 card for Open, Classic and Charity as well as our NWPC 2026 Tee-shirt. Limited to 80 tickets.
Anyone making it to a final will get cash prizes! All top 4 finalist will get trophy/plaques to take home!
There will also be several activities including charity drive, swag raffles and more…!
We will have more announcement in the future as well as the banks line up!